Product at Heart 2026

What We Cover:

• Why curating a product conference is getting trickier (hint: AI is moving fast)

• The shift to a single-track conference for 2026—and what that means for attendees

• Sneak peek at confirmed keynotes, including:

– Christian Idiodi (SVPG) and his storytelling magic

– Elaine Kasket, cyber-psychologist, exploring digital afterlife and AI replicas

– Teresa Torres, sharing what she’s learning about AI

• How roundtables have become an attendee favorite and what’s changing this year

• A preview of Teresa’s Maker Studio workshop and how participants will build personal AI workflows

• Overview of additional workshops from Rich Mironov, Büşra Coşkuner, Marcus Castenfors, and Özlem Yüce.

• The evolution of the Product Leadership Event into a 1.5-day retreat with workshops, excursions, and lots of space to connect

Key Takeaways:

• No AI track—AI will show up everywhere, but not as a siloed topic. The team sees it as part of the everyday toolkit.

• Single-track means tighter curation. Every talk needs to earn its place.

• Roundtables are growing. They now act as an “alternative track,” giving people more ways to engage beyond stage talks.

• Workshops go deep. There’s content for product managers, product leaders, and folks stepping into new roles.

• Leadership retreat expands. More time, more interaction, more opportunities to learn from peers.

About the Product Leadership Retreat:

• Now 1.5 days instead of a half day
Includes:

– Talk sessions

– Small-group excursions (boat rides, improv, etc.)

– Dinners and networking

– Mini-workshops led by seasoned practitioners (including Petra)

• Capped at 60 attendees (all in product leadership roles) to keep it intimate and useful

If You’re Attending Product at Heart:

Come say hi to Teresa and Petra—on stage, at a roundtable, or somewhere in the hallway conversations that make these events memorable.

Resources & Links:

• Follow Teresa Torres: ProductTalk.org

• Follow Petra Wille: Petra-Wille.com

Mentioned in this episode:

• Product at Heart (productatheart.com)

• Arne Kittler (productatheart.com/team)

• Mind the Product (mindtheproduct.com)

• Christian Idiodi (svpg.com/team/christian-idiodi) of Silicon Valley Product Group (svpg.com)

• Elaine Kasket (elainekasket.com)

• House of Beautiful Business (houseofbeautifulbusiness.com)

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7_Habits_of_Highly_E…) by Stephen Covey (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Covey)

• Rich Mironov (mironov.com)

• Marty Cagan (svpg.com/team/marty-cagan)

• Claude Code (claude.com/product/claude-code)

• Codex by OpenAI (openai.com/codex)

• Marcus Castenfors (mcastenfors.com)

• Büşra Coşkuner (busra.co) and her Success Metrics: A Playbook for Product Managers (linkedin.com/posts/busra-coskuner_success-metr…)

• Özlem Yüce (linkedin.com/in/ozlemyuce)’s Essential Toolkit for Product Managers (productatheart.com/workshops#block-366803ab608…)

• Petra’s Product Leadership Wheel (PLwheel) (petra-wille.com/plwheel)

• Netlight (netlight.com)